Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie
(born August 16, 1958), known as Madonna, is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in Bay City, Michigan and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City for a career in modern dance. After performing as member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her self-titled debut album in 1983, and then produced three consecutive number-one studio albums on the Billboard 200 in the 1980s and four more since year 2000. Madonna is known for exploring religious symbolism and sexual themes in her work. This drew criticism from the Vatican in the late 1980s. Madonna has acted in 22 films. Although many failed critically and commercially, she earned a Golden Globe Award for her role in the 1996 film Evita. In 1996 Madonna gave birth to a daughter, Lourdes Maria (also known as Lola) by personal trainer Carlos Leon before marrying film director Guy Ritchie in 2000. She and Ritchie have two sons, Rocco and David Banda, a Malawian boy they adopted in 2006, which caused media allegations they violated that country's adoption laws. Influences: Madonna's Catholic background and relationship with her parents were reflected in the album Like a Prayer. It is also an evocation of the impact religion had on her career. Her video for the title track contains Catholic symbolism, such as the stigmata. During The Virgin Tour, she wore a rosary and prayed with it in the music video for "La Isla Bonita". Madonna has also referred to her Italian heritage in her work. The video for "Like a Virgin", features Venetian settings. The "Open Your Heart" video sees her boss scolding her in Italian. In Ciao, Italia! - Live from Italy, the video release of her Who's That Girl Tour, she dedicates the song "Papa Don't Preach" to the Pope ("Papa" is the Italian word for "Pope".) In 1985, Madonna commented that the first song to ever make a strong impression on her was "These Boots Are Made for Walkin" by Nancy Sinatra and that it summed up her "take-charge attitude." As a young woman, she attempted to broaden her taste in literature, art, and music, and during this time became interested in classical music. She noted that her favorite style was baroque, and loved Mozart and Chopin because she liked their "feminine quality". In 1999, Madonna identified musical influences that impacted her such as Karen Carpenter, The Supremes and Led Zeppelin, and dancers like Martha Graham and Rudolf Nureyev. In an interview with The Observer, Madonna professed her inspirations—Detroit natives The Raconteurs and The White Stripes, as well as New York band The Jett Set. David Banda adoption: In October 2006, Madonna traveled to Malawi to help build an orphanage, which she also funded as part of the Raising Malawi initiative. On October 10, 2006, she filed adoption papers for a boy named David Banda Mwale, born on September 24, 2005 and renamed David Banda Mwale, Ciccone Ritchie. Banda was flown out of Malawi on October 16. The adoption raised public controversy because Malawian law requires would-be parents to reside in Malawi for one year before adopting. The effort was highly publicised and culminated in legal disputes. Tours: Madonna has had eight successful tours in the course of her career, being: *1985: The Virgin Tour *1987: Who's That Girl World Tour *1990: Blond Ambition World Tour *1993: The Girlie Show World Tour *2001: Drowned World Tour *2004: Re-Invention World Tour *2006: Confessions Tour *2008: Sticky & Sweet Tour See also *Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners *Female rock singers Category:American female singers Category:Female actresses Category:1958 births Category:Women's music